Absentee Ballot Process

You may vote by absentee ballot if you expect to be unable to appear at your polling place during the hours of voting due to one of the following reasons:

You will be absent from town during all the hours of voting

You are an active member of the armed forces of the United States

Illness

Physical disability

Religion tenets that forbid secular (non-religious) activity on Election Day

Your required performance of duties as a primary, referendum, or election official at a polling place other than your own during all the hours on Election Day

You may vote absentee beginning 31 days before an election, 21 days before a primary, 19 days before a referendum. You can fill out an absentee ballot request here. You may also call, e-mail, write or apply in person at your town clerk's office. When the application is completed, it must be returned to your town clerk's office, which will then issue you the absentee ballot and required enclosure envelopes. The sealed marked ballot and signed outer envelope must reach the town clerk's office before the close of the polls on Election Day.

Overseas citizens and U.S. military personnel can register to vote and request an absentee ballot at the Overseas Vote Foundation.

Campaign Finance Information

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For information on federal campaign contributions, please visit Open Secrets.

Eligibility Requirements

Completed with confinement and parole if previously convicted of a felony and have had your voting rights restored

ID Needed for Voter Registration

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You are required to show identification when registering to vote in person. Acceptable identification includes anything with a name and address: a Connecticut driver's license, a utility bill, or even a checkbook. If you register by mail, you must provide your Connecticut driver's license or the last four digits of your Social Security number on the voter registration form, which will be confirmed by the state's centralized voter registration system. This will avoid additional ID requirements for first-time voters in federal elections. First-time voters who register by mail in a federal election are subject to additional requirements.

ID Needed for Voting?

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You must either show identification or sign a one line affidavit at the polling place if you have not provided proper identification when registering. A photo ID is not required. Acceptable forms of ID at the polling place are:

A Social Security card

Any other preprinted form of identification that shows your name and address, name and signature, or name and photograph.

Any current and valid photo ID that shows your name and address

Copy of a current utility bill, bank statement, government paycheck or other government document that shows your name and address

If you do not have identification, the affidavit form requires your name, residential address, date of birth, and signature. The affidavit states, under penalty of false statement, that you are the one whose name appears on the official checklist.

First time voters who registered to vote by mail and did not provide acceptable ID at registration must show identification at the polls or with their absentee ballots. Acceptable forms of identification include a copy of a current and valid photo ID or a copy of a current utility bill, bank statement, government check, paycheck, or government document that shows your name and address. If you are a first time voter, you will be required to present identification and may not use the secretary of state's affidavit in lieu of acceptable ID.

Overseas and Military Voters

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You are a Military or Overseas voter if you are in uniformed services, living overseas OR a spouse or dependent of a uniformed services voter. To get registered and vote, you can utilize Overseas Vote Foundation.

If you have additional questions about elections and voting overseas you can use our state specific elections official directory or contact the Overseas Vote Foundation.

Poll Worker Information

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In order to be a poll worker in Connecticut:

You must be registered to vote in Connecticut

You must be at least 18 years of age

You will be entitled to compensation

Political affiliation generally required

You must be a resident of the town that you apply

You must complete required training

Students with residency in the town who are 16 years or older may work with written permission from a parent or guardian

Polling Place Hours

Polling Place Locator

You can find your polling place by utilizing your state resource. If you have further questions on your polling place location, please contact your county clerk.

Provisional Voting

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Provisional ballots will be counted no later than 6 days after the election.

Provisional ballots are issued in the following situations:

You claim to be an elector in a jurisdiction, but you are not on the official voter list

The registrar determines that you cannot be restored or transferred from another polling place

A polling district moderator decides that you may not vote in the primary or election

You fail to provide appropriate identification

If you are requesting a provisional ballot, you should request it from the polling district in which you reside. Registrars of voters will forthwith verify the information contained with each provisional ballot to determine whether you are eligible to vote and note their decision on the outer envelope containing the ballot. If they can determine that you should have been on the official voting list and your vote is eligible, they will open and count the vote. Connecticut does not offer a provisional ballot in elections where there is no federal office on the ballot.

Provisions for Voters with Disabilities

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All polling places must be accessible. If you require assistance to vote by reason of blindness, disability, or inability to write or to read the ballot, assistance may be given by a person of your choice. This person may accompany you into the voting booth. This can be a person of your choosing but cannot be:

Your employer

An agent of such employer

An officer or agent of your union

A disabled person may, at any time, request a paper ballot for electors with disabilities.

Registration Deadline

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The registration deadline varies depending on the type of election. For primary elections, applications must be postmarked by the 5th day before the primary. You may register to vote in person at your town clerk or registrar until 12pm the last business day before the primary.

For an election, your application must be postmarked by the 7th day before the election. You may register to vote in person with your registrar by the 7th day before an election.

You may now register to vote online! Click here and follow the prompts to fill out your application.

You may register to vote on Election Day at a designated Election Day Registration locations in each town (not at your polling place). You will need to provide proof of identity and residency in order to register. You can find a list of locations here.

Verify Voter Registration

Voting Machines

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The voting systems used in Connecticut are the optical scan and DRE.

Optical Scan: With this system, you will receive a card or sheet of paper, which you take over to a private table or booth. The card has the names of the various candidates and ballot measures printed on it. With a pen or pencil, fill in a little box or circle or the space between two arrows. When you are finished filling out all the cards, you may bring the cards over to a ballot box, where poll workers will show you how to put the cards in the box. In some places, you may feed the completed cards or papers into a computer device which checks your card or paper on site to make sure you have voted the way you want to and counts the votes.

Direct Recording Electronic (DRE): This is the newest kind of system in use in the U.S. All the information about who and what you are voting for is on an electronic screen, such as a TV or computer screen.

There are many variations of DREs because many companies are inventing new ones, and many cities, counties and states are trying them out. Usually, after you have signed in, the poll workers will give you a card which you slide into a device to start your voting session.

Some of these devices will show all of the candidates and ballot choices on one screen. Often, with these big screen devices, you push a button next to the name of the candidate you want to vote for (or yes or no on a ballot measure). On other DREs, the screen is set up to show pages. On each screen or page, there will probably be one thing to vote on. For example, on one screen or page, you might vote for president. Then you might move to the next page to vote for senator. Often these small-screen devices have a touch screen, where you touch the screen next to the name of the person you want to vote for. Other devices have a key pad. Some have a keyboard, so that you can write in the name of someone you want to vote for.

You let the system know you are finished voting by pushing a button, touching the screen or entering something on a keypad.

Vote by phone: This option is available at every polling place for voters with disabilities or for any voter who prefers this option.

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